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Digital Re-print - September | October 2010 CUT OPERATING COSTS! - Energy savings in drying technology for agricultural products

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The proper conservation of grain safeguards its quality and therefore its value for

the producer. In addition to the cleaning and actual storage of the grain, drying plays a key role.

In many parts of the world, including Central Europe, the harvest moisture level lies at around 30 percent and above, so the costs incurred for drying represent a major criterion for a producer's competi-tiveness.

With energy consumption developing more and more into a critical factor, the need to examine the efficiency of the drying plants from the point of view of profitability is also growing.

Functional principle of the continuous flow drier

The functional principle (Figure 2) of

the so-called ‘continuous flow drier’ has long been known. The first driers of this type went into operation in around about 1930.

The driers normally available on the market have the supply air roofs and the exhaust air roofs arranged in each case vertically one above the other.

This means that the drying air is always direct-ed to the product to be dried from the same side, a situation which results in non-uniform drying of the product sub-flow (see Figure 3).

A far more uniform drying effect has been achieved by turning the modules and with them the direction of the air (see Figure 4).

One disadvantage of the conventional driers with turned modules is the non-uniform air velocity (mininum 2.5m/s; maximum 10m/s). This can result in the entrainment of fine seeds (rapeseed, lin-seed) and small grains and therefore has a negative effect on performance.

CUT OPERATING COSTS!Energy savings in drying technology for agricultural products

Figure 1 shows that the raw energy prices continue to grow in spite of the ‘bank crisis’ in 2008

Eco Dry at a site in Mironovka/Ukraine, output 60 tonnes/hour

(maize, 35 percent moisture reduced to 15 percent), total storage capacity

300 tonnes, installed heating capacity 16 MW

by Franz Wiesmeier and Andreas Wolf

Grain&feed millinG technoloGy24 | September - october 2010

FeatureGrain

The Eco Dry drierDrying with absolute uniformity and

maximum saturation of the exhaust air were the goals set for the engi-neers of Schmidt-Seeger GmbH in Beilngries, Germany.

The Schmidt-Seeger contin-uous-flow drier (patent pend-ing) is the result of on-going research and development aimed at an even more efficient solution for drying grain, maize, rapeseed, rise, sunflowers and other cereals.

Uniformity of aeration is achieved by dividing the product flow and rearranging the supply air roofs and exhaust air roofs.

At the same time the diagonal arrangement of the roof rows ensures an absolutely uniform distribution of the air over the product to be dried (see Figure 5).

Maximum absorption of mois-ture, that is, maximum saturation of the exhaust air, combined with

efficient heat insulation of the grain column add up to substantial savings in the genera-tion of air used for the drying. Less air needs

to be heated and conveyed, and the heat losses through the housing are also lower.

Eco Dry thus solves all the pre-viously mentioned problems associ-ated with conven-tional roof column driers.

Eco Dry and Eco CoolAn even bigger saving in energy compared

to conventional driers is possible when the

Figure 2: Functional principle of the roof design- The roof ducts are open in downwards direction- On the side of the hot air hood the hot air flows

over the opened roofs (red) into the product- The product is heated and transfers its moisture

to the hot air- The air cools and absorbs moisture up to its

saturation limit- The moist air escapes through the neighboring exhaust air roofs (blue) into the exhaust air hood

and is drawn off via the exhaust air fan

Grain&feed millinG technoloGy September - october 2010 | 25

Feature Grain

Dry plant and an Eco Dry plus Eco Cool combination.

Other innovations introduced over the past few years include the concave form of the roofs, which ensures that the same amount of air flows around each grain, and the pneumatic drier discharge.

During discharge it is important above all to prevent bridging in the product flow, which in the worst case scenario can cause

Here the maize is slowly tempered, using the stored heat to expel the water. Through subsequent aeration in the cool-ing zone the Eco Cool then removes the residual moisture from the product (see Figure 6).

Eco Dry and Eco Cool have been used successfully over the past three years under working conditions. Examples are shown by the following pictures of an Eco

Eco Dry drier is

equipped in addition with the Eco Cool continuous-flow cooler, likewise from Schmidt-Seeger.

In this case the savings potential lies at up to 20 percent. The idea is based on the ‘dry aeration principle’. The pre-dried product is transferred (in an uncooled state) from the drier to the cooler with a moisture content of 17 percent.

Figure 5: Roof arrangement

on the ‘Eco Dry’ from Schmidt-

Seeger

Figure 3: Roof column drier,

technology as per 1930

Figure 4: Conventional

Schmidt-Seeger roof column drier

Grain&feed millinG technoloGy26 | September - october 2010

– Thermal loading cut by half– Reduced grain damage for all types

of grain, including paddy rice– No loss of germination properties

among seeds and malting barley– No loss of baking proper-

ties among bread grainsFollowing Schmidt-Seeger's commit-

ment to lower operating costs as one of its main goals, even grain producers in areas with high levels of harvest moisture are now able to compete on the market

ConclusionAl l the

innovations incorporated in the Eco Dry and the Eco Cool have

contributed to achieving the following main goals:

– Lower energy requirement– Uniform final moisture level

in all product sub-flows

the product to overheat. It must be certain that every grain spends the same amount of time in the drier regardless of whether it passes through along the edge or in the center.

Eco Dry plus Eco Cool at a site in Kirchham, Germany, output 11 tonnes/hour (maize, 35 percent moisture reduced to 15 percent);

total storage capacity 60 tonnes, installed heating capacity 3.5MW – performance improved by Eco Cool to 13 tonnes/hour, additional storage capacity of the continuous-flow cooler 55 tonnes

Grain&feed millinG technoloGy September - october 2010 | 27

Feature

Eco Dry – The new Generation of Cereal Dryers

Your benefits:● Energy saving potential of up to 20 % (drying maize using our continuous cooling column)

● gentle drying process● uniform drying temperatures reducing hotspots● minimized discharge of fines (canola, flax)Contact us. We would like to discuss our dryer innovations and new developments with you.

Schmidt-Seeger GmbH Eichstaetter Strasse 49, 92339 Beilngries – Germany Telephone: +49 8461 701-0, Fax: +49 8461 701-133 info@schmidt-seeger.com, www.schmidt-seeger.com

Grain

The solution behind the solution.

Fatten up your bottom line. Buhler high-performance animal and aqua feed production systems are used by leading companies around the world. These producers know they can rely not just on the technology itself, but also on the support that accompanies it. A service combining local presence with global expertise both lowers feed mill operating costs and increases capacity utilization. So the question is not whether you can afford to choose Buhler – it’s how a solution from Buhler will feed your profits. To find out more, visit www.buhlergroup.com.

Bühler AG, Feed & Biomass, CH-9240 Uzwil, Switzerland, T +41 71 955 11 11, F +41 71 955 28 96

fu.buz@buhlergroup.com, www.buhlergroup.com

Grain_Feed_Sept-Oct.indd 1 15.07.2010 16:28:18

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September 2010

• Thebenefitsofextrusioncooking

In this issue:

• The law of diminishing

returns: - consequences

for feed enzyme strategy

• An innovative approach to animal diet formulation

• Global grain & feed markets

• Cutoperatingcosts!

- Energy savings in drying technology for agricultural products

• Theinfluenceoftemperature,humidityandairflowonthegraindryingprocess

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